One-third of the new recruits training at the Vermont Police Academy have tested positive for Covid-19. The academy has been shut down and the entire class and staff members are now in isolation.
“We’re isolating everyone just to be safe,” William Sheets, interim director of the police academy, said Tuesday.
Eight of the 23 members of the class training to become full-time law enforcement officers in Vermont tested positive in “rapid” tests for the coronavirus, he said. The recruits will take the more precise PCR test later this week.
None of the roughly dozen academy staff members have tested positive, Sheets said.
The class started with 27 members, but four dropped out.
The academy has moved to online, remote learning for recruits, Sheets said. The length of the 16-week program will likely be extended.
News of the outbreak was first reported in the Times Argus.
The academy learned of the first positive test results among recruits over the weekend, with more cases discovered since then.
“We were only 11 days from graduation,” Sheets said. “We were in the last stages.”
Staff and recruits won’t return to the academy until those who tested positive get negative test results, and they receive approval from the Vermont Department of Health, he said. When graduation does take place, Sheets said, there will not be a traditional ceremony with family and friends.
Graduation will likely be delayed by at least two weeks.
“They’re not coming back into the house until the Department of Health says you’re clear and doing all the right things,” Sheets said.
The cases popped up even though the academy had taken precaution against Covid-19, with recruits all in single rooms and wearing masks at all times, and classes held in the academy’s gym, rather than in smaller classrooms.
“I’m very thankful that we got to this point in the training before we had this outbreak,” Sheets said. “Despite our best efforts, we’re in the position we’re in and we have to deal with it.”
More testing is expected at the academy, Vermont Public Safety Commissioner Michael Schirling said Tuesday during Gov. Phil Scott’s semi-weekly press conference.
“We anticipate that everyone — students, faculty and staff — who were present last week will be tested on Friday using the PCR platform to confirm and to determine the full scope of infection,” Schirling said.
Vermont State Police had the most recruits in the 23-member class, with 10; the South Burlington Police Department had two.
Adam Silverman, spokesperson for the Vermont State Police, said the force has 32 vacancies, so any delay in getting the academy recruits into the field is a concern.
“That said,” he added, “we understand and appreciate that the academy is taking necessary precautions to ensure everyone’s health and safety, and we do not anticipate significant disruptions in state police coverage or service as a result of steps the (police academy) is taking.”